Although they differ widely from one another, the best portrait photographers create images in ways that tell about both the subject and the artist. Halsmann made them jump. Avedon put them in a sharp black box. Mapplethorpe’s were sculptures. Arbus liked them dark. François Pugnet’s deeply-seen portraits for his project, 75+ and Still Working, are luminous with his respect for his subjects and their long and eventful lives. At the same time, they reveal his commitment to his own decades of persistence at the work of perfecting his craft. These images are beautifully made, of men and women well into the days when others would be enjoying a new life among the relaxed and retired. They are pictured in their workplaces, in jobs they’ve had for many years, or in jobs newly required by a long life’s inevitable ups and downs. Whether they continue to work by choice or necessity, these workers’ live “for real,” in traditional jobs and in service to others. Pugnet’s straight black-and-white technique, born analog but still traditional, serves both to report eloquently on this timely social issue and to preserve the tradition of sharp focus, lush contrast, and perfect composition learned from the early masters of photography as fine art. It is an enduring paradox that, while the artist’s likeness is nowhere to be seen in these portraits, he cannot be missed.
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